ICON-IGNORANCE

13 November 2006

Nikita Prokhorov

Nikita Prokhorov

Before and after in Nikita's identity project

A
symbol is just a symbol. A color is just a color. And a star is just a
star, even if it's red. It is a ubiquitous symbol, having been
appropriated into the mainstream culture for a multitude of
corporations and businesses, such as Heineken and Wal-Mart. The
significance of the red star is lost on most of the American society. I
am certain many would tell you that the red star was on the old Soviet
flag, and they could possibly tell you that it is prevalent on several
current flags. Ask people about the true origins of the red star,
however, and they will walk away feeling as if they have just failed a
history exam. That's not a real surprise. What comes as a bit of a
shock that it is used with a complete disregard for its history and
true meaning. While designing my identity, I decided to adapt the star
for my own logo. Ordinarily, I could've pretended to be an ignorant
pedestrian oblivious to its importance, except for one small
predicament: I was born in Moscow, Russia, and lived there for the
first ten years of my life. Although I have been living in the United
States for the last seventeen years, that is no excuse for my lapse in
judgment.

The red star has always been a powerful symbol
that stood for a cruel and bloody regime, comparable perhaps only to
the swastika. There is an underlying difference though. While the
swastika is primarily known as the symbol of the Nazi Party
(Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or the National
Socialist German Workers Party) it has been omnipresent in history and
religion since around 2000BC. It found its way into Hinduism, Buddhism
and Jainism as either a religious symbol or a geometrical motif. In
Hinduism it symbolized luck, represents the sun, or the concept of
samsara (the indefinitely repeated cycle of birth, misery, and death
caused by karma.) Buddhism spread throughout Southeast Asia to China,
Korea and Japan, taking the swastika with it. Its appearance can also
be traced along the African slave routes around 1500AD. The discovery
of Troy in the late 1870s by Heinrich Schliemann also produced objects
bearing the swastika ornament, and it was thought of as a special
Indo-European symbol from then on by a multitude of scholars and
historians. It quickly gained popularity and turned up in many designs
until the early 1900s. In 1920, Adolph Hitler irreparably tainted the
swastika. To paraphrase a Murphy's Law adage, "If you put a teaspoon of
sewage into a barrel of wine, you will get sewage." In one foul swoop,
Hitler tarnished the swastika's image by appropriating its use for the
Nazi Party. From that, it has not and probably never will recover.
Although still a religious symbol, when one sees a swastika, the "H"
word that comes to mind is Hitler rather than Hinduism.

The
red star, on the other hand, has never been a symbol of any religious
significance. When it had been adapted for the Communist regime, it
became a symbol of an extremely tyrannical and bloody era that has
survived in many ways, hearts and places. In the Central Museum of the
Soviet Army there is an explanation of the symbolism of the first
emblem of the Red Army: "....The Red Star - the emblem of the Red
Arm....the star of justice..." (underreported.com.) The red star and
Communism never stood for justice or anything remotely resembling it.
Their ideology catered to everyone's needs on the surface, but behind
the scenes it catered only to the Communist Fuhrers. While claiming to
be "friends" of the oppressed, they were the worst oppressors
themselves. As they got richer and richer, the poor got poorer and
poorer. The promises of a prosperous and rich life for everyone were
abundant but the only lives that improved were theirs. Had the
oppression and lies been their worst crimes I possibly wouldn't be
writing this article. The mass murders and torture went hand in hand
with the Communist era. When Lenin was at the helm of the Communist
party, the head of the CHEKA (the predecessor to the KGB) was Felix
Dzerzhinsky, also known as the "Iron Felix". In one historically
recorded example, he brought Lenin a list of noble, highly positioned
people who had been recently placed under arrest. Lenin read the list,
put marks next to several names and gave it back to Dzerzhinsky. The
latter left the room, and later reported that all people whose names
were checked off were shot. "Why?" asked Lenin. Dzerzhinsky replied,
"You put a mark next to each name!" Lenin responded, "I was just
marking off the people that I knew!" Their motto was, "if the enemy
doesn't surrender, he must be eliminated". Under that motto, the
Soviets slaughtered tens of millions of people through executions,
famine and torture because those people were alleged enemies. The
absolute majority of those persecuted were killed or imprisoned for no
reason at all. Among them was the creme de la creme of the nation,
those whose intelligence, culture and ability to think for themselves
rather than adhering to the crowd mentality made them "the enemies of
the people". So when the two-headed eagle recently replaced the star,
it was as much of a facade as Communism itself. Times may have changed,
but the guiding principles and beliefs remain the same.

So
why did I choose this star, this horrific symbol to represent myself?
For one, I did not do my homework. The concept was to reflect my roots
and to allude to my design style. I wanted to associate myself with the
era that produced many great designers, theories and concepts that are
still referred to and idolized by many. I didn't realize what else I
was associating myself with, and my family were the ones that brought
it to my attention. As I stated before, a symbol is just a symbol. That
is, until someone makes an emotional or personal connection to it. My
parents and grandparents who also emigrated with me in 1989, lived
through all the horrors and experienced everything first hand. My great
grand father was imprisoned and persecuted, finally perishing in the
war that killed an estimated thirty million people. My other great
grandfather's brother spent half of his life in a Soviet concentration
camp. My great grandmother and my mother were not allowed to get into
graduate school because they were Jewish. Never mind the fact that they
had perfect grades. My stepfather was persecuted as well, losing his
job in the process and spending time in jail. My family was deeply
offended by what I did and felt my design slapped them in the face.
There was a span of three days when we did not speak with each other,
and my stepfather said, "....until you replace that bloody star, I
don't have a son anymore...". That statement really stung me and made
me realize the boundaries I crossed with my design. We have been in the
US for seventeen years and consider ourselves American. Both my mother
and stepfather have worked extremely hard and took full advantage of
the opportunities that were provided for them in this country and
became very successful. I thought they would not react so emotionally
to my logo. I chose to ignore history and, in my ignorance, also
overlooked my family's past. I have never encountered nor expected a
reaction as strong and as emotional. I also forgot about the heritage
and associations that a single symbol can communicate. Your heritage
can work for or against you. So if you choose to use a symbol with
years of history behind it, make sure you know that history.

About Nikita ProkhorovNikita Prokhorov recently graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design. To contact Nikita, click .